Home
by star-angel
Summary: 23 years after endgame, tom reminisces about their arrival and how his daughter turned out


'Home'  
  
by star angel  
  
E-mail: star_angel11015@hotmail.com  
Rating: G  
Disclaimer: Even though the show is now over (sniff), the characters all belong to   
Paramount.   
Feedback: Heck yes!  
Summary: Coda to 'Endgame'. 23 years after voyager's return, Tom reminisces about   
their return and how his daughter turned out.  
  
  
  
I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. Feeling the mutual awe of seeing earth   
  
again after what seemed like a lifetime and hearing my baby's cry, feeling the neverending love   
  
a father has for his child...it was pretty overwhelming, especially after seeing dad up close on   
  
the viewscreen, knowing that he was just a few lightyears away instead of thirty thousand. If  
  
somebody had told me seven years ago that I'd be glad, excited even to see the admiral again, I  
  
would've laughed in their face.   
  
  
But looking back at all those years with him following our miracle of a return trip, I can't help  
  
but thank whatever higher power that we were able to make peace in our lifetimes. B'elanna still  
  
hasn't been able to heal all wounds between her and her parents. I can't honestly say that she   
  
was ever really able to forgive her father, there was always tension when they were around each  
  
other and the bitterness and harshness of their arguments were soul-crushing at times. But she   
  
still loved him, through all of it and cried in my arms all night when he passed away. Now, she  
  
says that she can feel both of her parents with her, she still talks to them, lets herself   
  
remember them, still sees them in her dreams.  
  
  
Family. Yes, my father and mother and sisters and everyone else part of the Paris bunch will  
  
always be in my heart, will always be family. But what I had on Voyager, what I shared with my  
  
crewmates, it's a special bond that remains unbroken to this day. When I revisit the old ship,  
  
now a shell for replicas and memories, as I touch the old bulkheads, I can close my eyes and...  
  
for a moment...it's 23 years ago, I'm just on my way to the messhall for one of Neelix's newest  
  
concoctions. I see familiar faces nodding to me as they pass by. I hear the cheerful banter of  
  
the diners and the warmth of emanating from the galley. The ship was warm. The ship was home.   
  
  
It was never Voyager itself really, but the crew. It was never easy, all alone out there. We  
  
had no choice but to turn to each other. It's rare that a starship crew gets so close, even   
  
rarer when the crew is made up of people who hate each other. But after a while, the lines   
  
between maquis and Starfleet, shipmates and friends were blurred and ultimately disappeared   
  
leaving a bittersweet nostalgia in their wake. After a while, your co-workers become your   
  
partners, your subordinates, your friends. Loyalty and honour are instilled in every person and   
  
the closeness is unbelievable. That was my home, it always will be my true home.  
  
  
That was the hardest thing for all of us, I think. We'd gotten so intent on getting home that we  
  
hadn't thought beyond that. We hadn't realized that the homecoming would also have to mean   
  
goodbye. So many tears were shed that day. Our friends and family from across the Alpha   
  
Quadrant came to greet us, we were all held by someone dear who'd we'd thought would be lost for  
  
a long time to come. That was the only time I ever remember the Admiral crying.  
  
  
He was one of the first to greet the senior staff at the launching pad, along with many other   
  
Starfleet officials. They shook our hands, gave us our commendations and medals. Somehow, I'd  
  
ended up at the end of the line as had dad. He came up to me and we faced each other rigidly for  
  
a few seconds, spectators looking on worriedly. I was still in shock from the preceding events  
  
and couldn't handle the look in his eyes. After a few moments, my composure broke and it all   
  
came down on me suddenly. We were home, it was all over, it was all just beginning. The next  
  
thing I remember is being pulled into a pair of strong arms, towards a man crying just as hard   
  
as I was.   
  
  
According to Starfleet regulation, the following days were supposed to be filled with debriefings  
  
and many other standard procedures. Red tape's a bitch, even in the 24th century. But, given   
  
the circumstances, it was postponed until the next day. I spent most of that first day home in   
  
Sickbay, enjoying my new family.  
  
  
I can still remember the Admiral's face as he saw Miral for the first time. My beautiful   
  
daughter washed all hardness from his face the instant she was shown to him. He looked so much   
  
younger right then. He told me once that the sight of me holding my wife, our daughter in her   
  
arms, had awakened a warmth in him he'd thought dead long ago. That's my girl, my   
  
miracle-worker. Conceived against all odds, born between quadrants during a borg attack,  
  
helping her old dad win the betting pool...she screamed her little lungs out for all they were  
  
worth all the next day and night. She definitely has Klingon in her. She was going to be a   
  
handful, I could tell. As beautiful as her mother, vibrant as her captain, stubborn as her  
  
father, strong, fiery...B'elanna had once been afraid I'd leave her because living with two   
  
Klingons would be a challenge. The truth is, I wouldn't exchange those two for anything in the  
  
world. They're precious, they're all that matters.  
  
  
She considers herself a member of the original Voyager crew even if she was only on the ship for  
  
a few moments. A very spiritual young lady, she believes that she is not only a child of her  
  
parents but of the entire crew. That each loving presence contributed to her being and Voyager's  
  
spirit would live on in our family. I think she's gone on one vision quest too many. That was  
  
my response when she told me. She and her mother responded by giving me simultaneous whacks on  
  
the shoulders.   
  
  
B'elanna was so proud of Miral when our baby graduated from Starfleet Academy. At the top of her  
  
class and ambitious as hell, our girl found herself a place on a starship almost right away, all  
  
on her own. They never cry, either of them, but I could tell both mother and daughter wanted to  
  
the day Miral left on her first mission. Hugs and gentle words were exchanged between the three  
  
of us and, as she waved goodbye from the airlock, I experienced the same feeling I'd gotten when  
  
Voyager had arrived home. It was an end and a beginning and my pride and joy was facing off a   
  
numb pain in my stomach. I realized only then that she wasn't my baby anymore.   
  
  
I'm glad it hit me then instead of now because I doubt that she would've liked to see her old man  
  
have a fit during her engagement party. It really is a great celebration, a lot of the old crew  
  
are hear along with some of her current crewmates and old friends from the Academy. All of the   
  
Paris family is here as well as a few important Starfleet officers. She's only an ensign and   
  
has already managed to charm her way up the Federation hierarchy. She gets it from her father.  
  
  
B'elanna went to get some punch and everyone else is mingling so I'm alone in a corner for now,  
  
free to observe my little miracle from my quiet corner. She's grown up to be a beautiful lady.   
  
She's always had this life inside of her that has made her so pleasant to be around. Her   
  
presence just makes everyone instantly comfortable and content. In a few minutes, she has   
  
everyone laughing and talking like they were old friends. She'll make a great captain someday.   
  
  
She's standing in the center of the room next to her fiance, a very charming Betazoid (of   
  
course, not nearly good enough for her but she'd break my legs if I objected. Besides, he   
  
makes her happy) I never would've have expected Miral to marry a Betazoid. She may be three   
  
parts human but has always been very close to her Klingon heritage, taking an immediate interest   
  
in the language, performing all the rituals, upholding all the rules and principles and somehow  
  
managing to integrate it all into her everyday life. She's not perfect but I have to keep   
  
reminding myself of that.   
  
  
Anyway, this should be a very interesting union. She's a very passionate person and Zean's  
  
sensitive, wise beyond his years. She's not very patient and he's going to be picking up her   
  
emotions constantly. But if anyone can make it work, my baby can.  
  
  
They're surrounded by friends, chatting happily. But she stands out, she's by far the most   
  
radiant person here, besides her mother of course. She's spotted me somehow, seeing me through   
  
the shadows of my private corner. Her lips turn up in a smirk and she makes her way over to me.  
  
She puts her arms around me and gives me a kiss on the cheek.   
  
  
-"Come dance with me daddy." She whispers in my ear. My heart skips a beat, she hasn't called  
  
me daddy since she was a little girl.  
  
  
-"But there's no music, baby." I chuckle.   
  
  
Her smile grows as she pulls me closer and starts swaying to an imaginary beat. I haven't   
  
called her baby in a long time.  
  
  
-"I still am, you know. In my heart." she assures me.  
  
  
-"I know." I sigh. She's so precious.  
  
We sway slightly again and all eyes are on us, smiling tenderly at us. I look up to see my wife  
  
by the buffet, her arms crossed in her classic stance, her smirk fixed on her face, her eyes   
  
conveying more love than I've ever known in any other woman. I smile at her, the same one I   
  
gave her when we were first dating. She blushes and chuckles slightly. As I feel the warmth of  
  
my wife's look on me, the warmth of my daughter's breath on my neck, the presence of my family   
  
around us, I know I'm home.  



End file.
